A Cure for Loneliness
by GroundZeroFirework
Summary: All her life, Alisha's estate felt empty, unwelcoming, and lonely. All the things that prevented her house from feeling like a home. But now, here, in Rose's arms all that disappeared and it finally feels like home. Cross-posted on AO3


**AN: Hello and welcome to a new fic from me! As you read on you'll clearly see that I've not played the Alisha Story DLC. Anyways, hope y'all enjoy!**

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It was late at night in Ladylake when a young woman was walking towards her estate in the noble quarter. The young woman in question had blonde hair tied into a side ponytail, a beautiful but lean body hidden underneath a shirt, shorts, a tunic and pieces of armor, a beautiful, youthful face, and vibrant green eyes that despite its luster shows just how exhausted she really is. She made that final turn and saw that she was right in front of her estate. Without another word, she entered. It was warm and cozy thanks to the lighting and the furniture and had everything a house needs.

And yet it felt so…empty…and lifeless and lonely. Nothing else that would make it feel like "home".

"Your bath has been drawn. Is there anything else, milady?" A servent asked her. Kind and polite but with an obvious distance. That's how most of her servants operate; kind, polite, a banter with her here and there before inevitably returning to their duties. Realizing she needed to give an answer, she shook her head.

"No, that will be all, thank you." She replied with a kind smile.

"I see. Please call if you need anything else, Princess Alisha." The maid said before bowing and returning to her duties. Alisha trudged up the stairs and into the bath. Shedding her armor and clothing, she got into the tub filled with hot water and finally felt the day's tension melt away from her body. Sometimes she thinks it futile; she'll get that stress and tension back tomorrow anyway.

After all, the work of a princess is never done.

It's been four years since she met Sorey. Four years after she and Rose had their own little adventure. It was quite the experience and she learned a lot about herself and the world; not only were the stories from the Celestial Record true but she became a squire to a Shepherd as well! And thought she had to leave Sorey in the midst of his journey, it was still quite a ride. From then on, she worked hard to bring peace to both Rolance and Hyland just as she promised him. Her adventure with Rose and went and though she remains her squire to this day, they had both agreed that her place is in Ladylake while the new Shepherd continued her duties of purification with the other seraphim. It was killing two birds with one stone for Rose; she gets to go on adventures while doing her job.

Rose…Speaking of her…

They didn't exactly have a good start, Alisha knew. When Sorey sealed himself off with Maotelus, Rose decided on her own that the young Princess of Hyland didn't need to know of his fate. And naturally, Alisha didn't like that. After one fight, their journey as Shepherd and Squire was a tad awkward and afterwards, when all was said and done, they went their separate ways.

But after a few months, Rose came back to see her before leaving the day after. And then after a few more months, she would come back and with each passing visit, her stay would be more and more extended. Sometimes on her own, sometimes with the Sparrowfeathers, sometimes with the Seraphim but often on her own. The longest she ever stayed was two weeks and each and every day, she would come by to see Alisha and they would spend time together. Just the two of them. Finally, after a particularly bad day arguing with the nobles, the blonde princess confronted her and practically demanded to know why she came to see her almost all the time she was in Ladylake. She was basically going off on a tirade at the time.

Until, of course, Rose being Rose, cut that tirade off with a kiss.

That kiss set everything off for them; for Rose, it spoke of her feelings for Alisha that she's held inside since the day they ran into each other after Sorey sealed himself off. For Alisha, it made her see how much she's missed Rose, how much she's been looking forward to her visits, and how desperately, truly, madly in love she was with her Shepherd. With shy yet happy giggles, they snuck back to her estate and made love before spending the rest of the week together and Rose has to go off being the Shepherd again.

And that's how things have been between them for about a year and a half now.

Of course, the pair had to keep things a secret. The Shepherd and a Princess of Hyland? What scandal! Of course, they didn't mind much so long as they were together. The problem lay in how hard apart being apart was. It's been about 4 months since Rose was here and, judging from her last letter, was most likely not to return some time soon. And now, Alisha missed her. She missed their friends. She missed Sorey. She missed their adventures. But she missed Rose the most. She felt lonely. Here, in the quiet, empty, lifeless, and unwelcoming estate her father gave her before his death, she felt lonely and alone and she couldn't do anything about it.

Alisha brought her knees closer to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. And there…in the slowly cooling water of her tub…she cried.

xxx

Once she's calmed herself down, Alisha walked to her room wearing only her usual shirt and shorts. She dried her loose hair off as she observed herself on the mirror; ugh…her eyes were red. She walked over to her desk and saw the stack of paperwork.

'Might as well get it over with.' She thought as she picked up her quill on one hand and document on the other and…

"Were you crying?"

Startled, Alisha dropped her items back and turned, trying to reach for her letter opener on the desk when she saw her…

Rose…just…standing there, wearing the Shepherd's robe Alisha had commissioned for her. The redhead cautiously made her way to her lover and finally, Alisha couldn't hold it any longer. She thought she had shed all her tears but clearly she was about to be proven wrong. Her shoulders started quaking in her efforts to hold it in. But that failed and instead, she started crying as the full force of her hidden loneliness hitting her once again.

Alisha didn't know why she didn't realize earlier how lonely she actually was; maybe it was because of her station, maybe it was because of her parents, maybe because it was of the nobles she was exposed to while growing up. Fact of the matter is…Alisha got so used to being lonely that she didn't realize just exactly HOW lonely she was. As she was crying, she felt lips being pressed to her forehead and arms being gently wrapped around her in a warm embrace. It was always like this; Rose would be the one to embrace her, kiss away all her fears, her tears, her nightmares and her loneliness. And for that she will always be grateful.

"I'm sorry." Rose said in a regretful tone. Alisha didn't need to say anything; she knew the reason for her tears. Alisha wrapped her arms around her in return. They stayed in that position for a few moments, providing each other with warmth and love through contact even though the blonde was crying her eyes out.

And that's just fine; she deserved to let out her loneliness.

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"Are you feeling alright now?" Rose asked her as she ran her fingers through Alisha's hair. Once Alisha had worn herself out from crying, Rose carried her to her bed and just held her until she had calmed down. Not that she was going to let her go any time soon; it has been 4 long months after all.

"Yes…thank you. For being here." Alisha answered with a small teary smile. The Shepherd returned the smile and wiped the last of her tears away…all the while thinking how the name she gave her suited her lover. Isylvia Amekia; "The Crying Alisha". Contrary to what she likes Alisha to believe, she didn't name her that to make fun of her tears when they had their little spat four years ago. No. It was because despite those tears, she was still the most beautiful woman she's ever laid her eyes on. To her, Alisha was more beautiful than Lailah and that's saying something.

"Were you feeling lonely again?" She asked the young princess. Alisha gasped and shyly looked away, as if it was a crime for someone to know just how lonely she actually is. Rose sat up straight and gently took her face in her hands before making her face her.

"It's alright. You can feel lonely all you want. But you best believe that I'll do my best to make that loneliness go away." She said with her usual cat-like smile as she gently tapped her nose, making Alisha giggle. Rose pressed her lips to her lover's and lingered there for a moment. It wasn't a desperate or hungry kiss but rather it was gentle and chaste…and yet it managed to convey the love she has for her.

"I love you." Alisha mumbled as she cupped Rose's cheek.

"I love you too." The Shepherd replied as she brought their foreheads together. After a while, Alisha settled back down and laid her head on her chest once again. Rose continued to run her fingers through her blonde locks while the other hand held her own and soon enough, Alisha realized that this was all she needed.

All her life, Alisha's estate felt empty, unwelcoming, and lonely. All the things that prevented her house from feeling like a home. But now, here, in Rose's arms all that disappeared and it finally feels like home.

And all those negative emotions were gone, in Rose's arms, it didn't take long for loneliness to follow suit and disappear entirely.

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 **AN: I wanted to write fluff. Writes sad stuff instead. Clearly, I have issues.**

 **Anyways, please leave a like, favorite, or comment if you enjoyed. Much love. Very respect. Hope y'all enjoyed. ^3^**


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